Tyke's LegacyAn Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

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Tyke was performing with the Circus International in Hawaii when she
killed her trainer and gored her groomer, then bolted from the arena and ran
through the city for a half-hour, injuring several people before collapsing
from the 86 police bullets fired into her. It took nearly two hours for her
to die on the Honolulu street.

We continue to honor Tyke’s memory and her legacy by working to end the
use of elephants in circuses and traveling shows to end their suffering and
before tragedy strikes again.

On August 20, 1994, Tyke , a 20 year old African elephant “owned” by the
notorious Hawthorn Corporation, was killed. She was
performing with the Circus International in Hawaii when she killed her
trainer and gored her groomer, then bolted from the arena and ran through
the city for a half-hour, injuring several people before collapsing from the
86 police bullets fired into her. It took nearly two hours for her to die on
the Honolulu street.

Tyke’s legacy, a growing worldwide awareness of the suffering of animals in
circuses, continues to gather strength. We are working every day to nurture
that awareness, and to transform it into action. Elephants in circuses
endure intense confinement, social isolation and the constant threat of
physical punishment. We aim to end these abusive practices and to prevent
further injuries or deaths – elephant or human – resulting from the
proximity between the public and these traumatized, highly stressed animals.

Tyke’s actions came as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention – at
least three times in the 16 months prior to her last stand in Hawaii she had
escaped her handlers, causing terror and injury to people and to property.
Yet she continued to perform until her final hours.

This was not an isolated situation in which one overstressed, rebellious
elephant slipped through the cracks; the “system” in place to prevent such
occurrences is flawed almost to the point of nonexistence. An Office of the
Inspector General (OIG) Audit released in June found that the USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), whose job it is to ensure that
exhibited animals are handled in a way that does not put the public or the
animals at risk, is failing. Neither the inspection process nor the tracking
of exhibitors works to safeguard animals or people.

There are at least ten elephants with documented histories of lashing
out or bolting who continue to perform around the nation – in close
proximity to the public. Many of them are used to give rides to children.
In the first eight months of 2010, there have been three incidents that we know of
(and who knows how many more that went unreported). Two elephants, Viola and
an elephant with Ringling, escaped from their handlers, each narrowly
missing crowds of circus-goers when they bolted; Viola was injured when she
fell down a steep embankment in her attempt to flee. Another elephant, Dumbo
lashed out and killed her longtime handler.

Despite all our efforts to find her, Dumbo’s whereabouts have been unknown
since shortly after the killing in Pennsylvania; whether she is off the road
or has vanished into the thousands of fairs around the country where
anonymous elephants turn up for a few days at a time is anyone’s guess at
this point. It does not appear that she is under any official travel
restriction.

Both Viola and the elephant with Ringling, at last report, are still
traveling, still performing, still stressed and miserable – and still
putting crowds of people at serious risk.

A person was killed, others were injured, and an
elephant died in agony. The public is exposed daily to elephants who have
clearly signaled their frustration with circus torture, and to others who
have endured years of anguish and stress. We continue to honor Tyke’s memory
and her legacy by working to end the use of elephants in circuses and
traveling shows to end their suffering and before tragedy strikes again.

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